Tag: kindness

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Hacking This Life and Social Distancing

This is quite a time we are living through. I know there will be an end to it and we will have what they are calling “the new normal” similar to the “new normal” after 9/11. What that will look like I don’t think anyone is really sure of right now.

What I am concentrating on is how to use this time to be creative, reflective and kind. Of course, like many people, I am reading, writing, cooking, baking, sewing, knitting, crocheting, video chatting with friends and family and walking the dogs a lot more. I finally found a puzzle online and it just arrived so I am working on that now too.

My dogs, I am sure, are wondering why I am home so much because I am usually on the go!

Being kind is what everyone needs right now. How can we do that with social distancing? I have been sharing baked goods and homemade soups with neighbors and friends. Also, just checking on people, especially the elderly, and letting them know you are thinking about them. I know even when I walk my dogs people I don’t even know have a big smile on their faces and say hello. I am guessing for most of us it is a feeling of belonging. We all are in the same boat.

We can also be creative about visiting with our friends and neighbors. I have one elderly neighbor that I visit with while I am in her yard with the dogs. She stands on her porch and we talk for a bit and share what we have been doing. Another friend and I met in the McDonald’s parking lot after we each went through the drive-thru at Tim Horton’s. She stayed in her car and I in mine and we talked for about an hour while we drank our coffee. Another time we met at the lake (coffee in hand) and fed the seagulls Cheerios. We drove separately, of course, and stood much more than 6 feet apart but it was a nice visit and a diversion from the regular routine. I would love for you to comment and share with us what you are doing to keep in touch.

One of the things I am trying to do everyday is put some cologne and makeup on and do my hair. I feel like that lifts my spirits. How about you? What are you doing to remain sane and calm in this unusual time?

I have always loved brown sugar. I keep a canister of it just like flour and regular sugar. It is so much richer and fuller flavored than just plain granulated sugar. A couple of the items I have baked recently used only brown sugar and I want to share them with you.

Recipes

Brown Sugar Cookies (*dinnerthendessert.com)

  • 14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 cups flour , plus 2 tablespoons
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a skillet melt 10 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Whisk constantly until butter starts to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Pour into bowl, add remaining butter to same bowl and set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl whisk together sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
  4. Add remaining brown sugar and salt to butter and whisk until smooth. Whisk in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
  5. Combine butter mixture with dry ingredients, stirring until a dough forms.
  6. Either roll dough out to 1/2-inch thick and use a cookie cutter, or roll into a ball and place on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar.
  7. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until cookies begin to set.

These cookies are a little chewy and ever so yummy!!

Brown Sugar Banana Nut Muffins

Brown Sugar Banana Nut Muffins (*celebratingsweets.com)

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed make sure it is fresh and soft
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups mashed very ripe bananas about 3-4 bananas
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or swap for macadamia nuts, pecans or hazelnuts

Topping:

  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2-3 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • In a large bowl, whisk melted butter and 2/3 cup brown sugar until well combined, about 1 full minute. Add eggs, mashed banana and vanilla, whisking until combined.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and use a rubber spatula to lightly stir the batter until almost combined. Add 1/2 cup walnuts and stir until no streaks of flour remain. Be careful not to over-mix.
  • Grease 15 standard-sized muffin cups and divide the batter evenly among the cups. Sprinkle the top of the each cup with brown sugar and chopped walnuts (topping). Bake for 14-17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool.

* I used paper muffin cups rather than greasing the muffin tin. Also, I used pecans rather than walnuts. My muffins weren’t small, by any means, but I got 18 muffins out of the recipe rather than 15. I promise if you make these you will love them!

Hacks

Project

The latest project I have been working on is making masks. I have been making them from 100% cotton which is the recommended fabric and luckily I have a lot of it in my material bin. My first pattern called for using elastic to hook on ears. I am out of elastic now that I have used all the black and white 1/4 inch elastic that I had on hand. I will now have to make them using bias tape. Below is the link to patterns using bias tape and elastic.

http://kidgiddy.blogspot.com/2020/03/face-mask-tutorial.html?m=1

Here is a picture of some that I have made.

Stay safe, healthy and as stress-free as you possibly can! Until next time my fellow humans!

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It’s Me!

I’m back! Here’s the scoop. I was on a grand adventure to Alaska, The Last Frontier, with my oldest son, Jess. We were gone 11 days which included travel time. I didn’t want to say online that I was going to be gone so long. Everyone would then know my house was empty. Well, nearly empty. I was lucky enough to have my grandson, Dakota, and his girlfriend, Shawntai, stay to take care of the dogs. They have to work though so the house was empty quite a bit.

Anyway, it was wonderful! I had never been on a cruise before and have always wanted to go to Alaska. I don’t really know why but I have. We were on the Star Princess for 7 days and on land at Denali and McKinley lodges for 3 days. The scenery was awesome. We visited, while on the ship, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Anchorage. If I had to pick out some highlights I would say that meeting people from all over the world on board the ship, seeing Denali, visiting the Husky Homestead (owned by Jeff King who is a four-time Iditarod winner), and flying in a seaplane over glaciers were just a few.

                                                                          The photo doesn’t do Denali justice.  She is grand, beautiful and I saw her! Only 30% of the people who go to Alaska get to see the peak.

Now, onto regular business.

I have recently joined a thing called Ipsy. You get 5 cosmetic samples per month for $10. I enjoy checking out the products as I am a makeup junky. This month I received a foundation primer, a blush, 2 facial masks, mascara, a nail polish and a cosmetic bag. Some of the items are not sample size. The nail polish this month and the blush were full size products. All of the items are from companies that are well-known. I used to do something similar through QVC but it was at least twice as expensive. If you are interested you can check it out at www.ipsy.com. You fill out preferences on colors and things about your skin care and skin tone, etc. so that they have an idea of the products that you might enjoy receiving. It is very easy to join and you can quit at any time.

The fruit stands are open and brimming with fresh fruits and vegetables in our area. On a recent trip I bought some red sweet peppers and wanted to do something slightly different with them. We were also having an Indian Summer heat wave here and I wanted to use my Crockpot rather than turn on the oven. In in my search I found the following recipe and it was a winner! I will definitely make it again.

Mexican Stuffed Peppers (Recipe courtesy of Chef Savvy blog)

  • 5-6 (depending on size) tri-color bell peppers, tops cut off and seeds and ribs removed
  • 1 pound lean ground beef or turkey, uncooked
  • 1 cup rice, cooked (mexican, brown rice, or white rice)
  • 1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 1 cup red enchilada sauce
  • ¾ cup shredded Mexican cheese, plus more for topping, if desired
  • ½ tablespoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Spray the bottom of a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Place the peppers inside.
  • In a large bowl combine ground beef or turkey, rice, black beans, corn, enchilada sauce, cheese, seasoning and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
  • Place the filling into the cavity of each pepper.
  • Cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-6 hours or until the meat is cooked through.
  • Serve immediately with some of the optional toppings, if desired. Goes great with a side salad!

    Optional Toppings

    1. cilantro
    2. sour cream
    3. shredded Mexican cheese
    4. salsa
    5. enchilada sauce
    6. avocado
    7. lime wedges                                                                                                                       Usually, I do try to follow a recipe exactly the first time I make it and then tweak it later. However, when you find yourself without a couple of ingredients or maybe you don’t like what is in the original recipe, then you need to make substitutions or changes. I used red peppers instead of the tricolor. I do like the tricolor and they make a pretty dish but as you remember, I bought red. They were also the long peppers so instead of cutting the tops off and filling them I cut them in half-length wise and filled them. When making enchiladas I make my own sauce. I was conserving energy and time the day I made these (yes, maybe lazy) I didn’t feel like making my sauce. I had a can of diced tomatoes with peppers that I used instead and it worked very well. Also, I didn’t have frozen corn and used a can of corn which I drained instead. The recipe was a success. We used salsa, sour cream and cheese as toppings.                                                                                                                                    This picture was taken just before I put the lid on the Crockpot and turned it on high for 2.5 hours.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  I very recently made another kitchen gadget purchase. This one I had been contemplating for a long time. Welcome to my kitchen, 6 quart NuWave Air Fryer! The purchase was made from BonTon. Here’s what was involved that helped make my decision to order it; a $10 birthday coupon, two $20 bonus cards (BonTon lets you double stack the reward cards) and free shipping! How could I not?                                                                                                                              So far I have only tried it once and that was just to make frozen french fries. It was so easy to use. The fries came out pretty good. I would say better than putting frozen fries in the oven but definitely not like deep-frying french fries. Of course, I wasn’t expecting that. There are many recipes to try.  Some examples are twice baked potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, home fries, air baked eggs, buffalo wings and Cajun shrimp. Also included, is a divider so that you can make two different foods at once.                                In future posts I will let you know the other foods that I make in my NuWave. If you would like to read about this appliance you can go to mynuwavebrio.com.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     My birthday celebrations have extended beyond my birthday month into October which is why I refer to it as my “birthday season”. During the season my friend, Linda, made me an absolutely wonderful banana cream pie. She gave me permission to share the recipe with you.                                                                                                                                                                                            Banana Cream Pie with Cake Mix Crust (one of my two favorite pies)                                                                                                                                                                                1 pkg. yellow cake mix, divided                                                                                                1 large egg, lightly beaten                                                                                                           3 Tbsp. butter, softened and divided                                                                                    1 cup cold 2% milk                                                                                                                          1 pkg. (3.4oz) instant banana cream pudding mix                                                          1 medium banana, sliced                                                                                                              1 carton (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided                                  1/3 cup creamy peanut butter                                                                                                  Additional sliced ripe banana to decorate.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch pie plate. Stir together 1 3/4 cups cake mix, the egg and 1 Tbsp. butter until combined. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth dough forms.  Roll dough to fit pie plate. Flute edge. Prick bottom several times with a fork. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.                                                                    Whisk milk and pudding mix 2 minutes. Fold in banana slices and 1 cup whipped topping. Transfer to cooled crust. Top with the remaining whipped topping. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.                                                                            Meanwhile, mix remaining cake mix, peanut butter and remaining butter until crumbly. Transfer to a parchment paper lined rimmed baking pan. Bake until golden brown, 14 to 15 minutes, stirring once. Cool completely.      Top pie with the additional sliced banana and the crumb topping.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                That’s all for this week, folks! Be kind to each other over the next week. Spread kindness and compassion wherever you go!
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